Forces clear two militant hideouts inside mosques in North Waziristan
Security forces cleared two hideouts inside mosques in Muzak village near Mir Ali, North Waziristan, the military's media wing said. A large cache of IEDs, explosives, weapons and ammunition was recovered.
- Operation took place on 8 November in Muzak village, on the southern outskirts of Mir Ali
- ISPR said IEDs, explosives, weapons and ammunition were recovered
- ISPR said a clearance operation continues in the area
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the K-P governor condemned the use of mosques
Security forces cleared two terrorist hideouts located inside mosques in North Waziristan and recovered a large cache of improvised explosive devices, explosives, weapons and ammunition, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing.
The ISPR said the intelligence-based operation was carried out on Sunday, 8 November, in Muzak village, on the southern outskirts of Mir Ali. It said the hideouts belonged to Fitna Al-Khawarij, the state term for the banned TTP. The ISPR also described the group as an Indian proxy.
According to the ISPR, the recovered items included manufactured IEDs and material for making explosives. It said the terrorists were also running torture cells in the hideouts.
In its statement, the ISPR said: "The terrorists had deliberately established hideouts in Masajid to store explosive materials and also were running torture cells there". It added that terrorists abetted by the Afghan Taliban have nothing to do with Islam.
The military's media wing said a sanitisation operation was continuing to find and eliminate any other hideouts in the area. It said the counter-terrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam would continue at full pace.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces for the operation. According to Express News, he said that the use of mosques by terrorists to store explosives and as centres of torture is a clear desecration of Islam and sacred places.
The Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi, said the use of mosques for terrorism is unacceptable. He said he was deeply saddened by videos of the operation showing mosques used to store weapons, and that society does not accept the misuse of mosques in the merged districts. He said intelligence-based operations in the province would be intensified.
Background
khabr.pk reported on 9 November that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plans faceless anti-terrorism courts and says Rs70 billion will go to the police and the Counter-Terrorism Department this year.
Why it matters
North Waziristan is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where security is a continuing concern for residents. Reports cited by the Express Tribune say two security reports presented to the federal cabinet in October showed terrorist incidents in the province rose 195 per cent between March 2024 and September 2026. They also found that 73 per cent of attacks in the province in 2026 targeted police and security personnel. Local communities in the merged districts are directly affected by operations like this one.
